Out Through The Curtain
by Chibiaddicted
Summary: You, Hyuuga Hinata, have been given a special mission: convince the god of war and the god of the underworld that you deserve true love. HinataHarem
1. Chapter 1

The gods have spoken to young, Hyuuga Hinata, and she is sent on a journey that has only two outcomes: undying love or death. Hinata Harem

Prologue/Chapter 1

--

The roads weren't safe anymore. Villages were raided by other villages. Innocent, or as innocent as they come at a time like this, men were killed for carrying money. It wasn't a safe time for anyone, especially a young girl.

Clad in a dark cape, hood up to mask her face, the girl walked down the dusty path to Konoha. Underneath her cape was hidden except for the small hem of a long white tunic. Her feet, pale and slim, were bare, covered only in a thick coat of mud.

The roads were empty. It was far too late for even a soldier and too far from a city for a thief. The next city, then next farm even, was over a mile from where she stumbled.

Even in the dark, quiet atmosphere the girl was comfortable. Even after walking most of the night she was content. Her long legs were aching and she wondered if she would ever be able to wash the dirt off of them. She kept her thoughts of cleanliness (a surprisingly important aspect of Konoha) and refused to believe when had happened just a week before was true.

When pushed to the brink of exhaustion, she kept on. Her legs were ever wearier as time went on and her ankles were swollen to the point that tears streamed down her face, but she refused to stop until she saw the ocean. It was a sign that she was farther from Konoha than she had known, more than two days walk to be exact.

She stumbled to the cliffs and looked over at the vast ocean. It was more beautiful in the daylight, but even in the night it had an ethereal appearance. Overwhelmed by her thoughts, the girl didn't notice that she had stepped too close to the edge. It was too late to stop her weak body from falling over the white cliffs.

--

The girl's eyes opened and immediately shut again. Her cape was gone and the sun was high, blinding her momentarily. "Ah," her lips pursued as she slowly opened her eyes to see that it wasn't just the sun that blinded her.

Above her was a sight that many would have died to see. A goddess was before her, a smile on her ethereal face. The sun was shining behind the goddess, but she seemed to outshine it. Long blonde hair, thick and voluminous, went down to her collar and framed her thin face perfectly. The goddess's body was different than pictured. Her chest was much larger than any statue's and she was all-around more voluptuous. The girl found herself blushing when the goddess spoke.

"Hello, Hinata." Her voice was deeper than many women, but it still sounded like liquid gold.

"H-h-hel-lo." She stuttered back, eyes stuck to the goddess's face.

The goddess smiled. "I see that even after all these years you still have that problem." Hinata's eye widened. "Yes, I have been watching you for some time; though I must say that I'm troubled by the way your life has turned out," the goddess trailed off, looking distraught for a brief second, "anyways, I saved you for a reason."

"S-s-a-ved m-m-me?" Hinata gulped absentmindedly. Her last memory was of the beautiful sea before… "Oh."

"Yes," the goddess said curtly, "and I must say it was a hassle trying to pry the information from Jiraiya." Hinata hasped at the name of the god. He was considered by some as 'the father of the gods' but many now-a-days just called him the 'head god'. The goddess frowned at Hinata's reaction and continued. "Well, I must say that you're much different than how I pictured you eighteen years ago." Her mouth twisted in a mix of confusion and anger. "I had hoped you'd be running your clan and married by now."

Hinata silently looked at her feet, noticing how dirty they were in the goddess's light. "I-I'm s-s-s-ory."

"Don't worry because I have a plan." Hinata looked up at the news and the goddess grinned. "You, Hinata, will marry someone famous," the girl cringed, "but at a price." The goddess held up a finger. "And don't even think about complaining since it's not as if you have a better option. You can't go back to Konoha and a girl like yourself would never make it in Suna or Mist by yourself." Hinata frowned, more of a twitch than anything. "That's why I proposed this. Every god except for two agreed and that's only because one of them believes you should find a way by yourself and the other is just a cold person in general."

Hinata's brain racked from trying to think of who the two gods could be. The goddess saw her confusion and her smile widened. "You'll figure them out soon enough because you'll be visiting both in your journey. That's the price you have to pay for love : convince the two that you deserve love."

"B-b-u-t-t I-I don-don't thi-think I-I'm wo-wo-worthy." Hinata stuttered, taking a step toward the goddess boldly.

The goddess rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, further accentuating her large chest. "Don't give me that attitude. I had to convince the hard-headed Ino, goddess of love, that you deserve love. That child believes that you only deserve love if you're bold enough to get it and I told you that you're bold enough. Are you going to shame me in front of my underlings?" Hinata shook her head, more scared of what would happen if she _didn't_ answer than of her task. "Good. It's not as if this task is truly hard. You don't have to kill anyone or commit any crime. All you must do is go to Suna and then the Underworld."

Hinata's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her feet moved towards the white cliffs, back against the stone, by themselves. "What?" She choked out, stutter absent from shock.

"Trust me, Hinata. If you can convince Gaara that you deserve to have love, then going to the Underworld will be a simple task. All you will have to do is visit Kisame, or anger Gaara." The last part was a joke, but Hinata was too shocked to laugh. That, and it wasn't funny to the frightened girl.

"Ga-aara as-as in the-the g-god of w-wa-war?!" She squeaked, not even bothering to ask if 'Kisame' was really the god of the sea from fear of knowing.

The goddess nodded. "The one and only. He and Itachi were against the whole 'let's give her love' plan and Ino refused to help you without their votes." Hinata was close to hyperventilating. "Don't worry. Do you honestly believe I'd give you a task without help?" The look in the goddess's face compelled her, almost magically, to tell the truth.

"We-well yo-you ar-are gi-giving me-me a ta-task that i-is virt-virtua-lly im-impossible. I-I thi-think I-I-I have a rea-reason to-to believe th-that you're go-going to-to send me with-without hel-help. " She mumbled hesitantly, looking down.

The goddess just laughed. "See? It's that attitude that made me want you to marry well and be strong." She flashed Hinata a smile that practically blinded the girl. "And I promise that I'll give you help. Naruto and Sakura," god of the sun, goddess of wisdom, Hinata's head spun, "are already excited to help. Also, I've prepared some encounters that will help you in the Underworld. Two men that will definitely want to meet Itachi." The smirk on the blonde's face unnerved the girl. "And they'll be perfect candidates for marriage."

"Mu-mus-must I get mar-mar-mari," Hinata couldn't even say the dreaded word. Marriage was one of the reasons for her downfall from power and she preferred not to think of it.

"Yes, but don't be scared. For this marriage you'll actually have a choice. I watched what happened with your…family and I was disappointed. Not just in you, but in your father and cousin." She said the words with malice. "So don't worry. I want you to find love and I'm sure that you'll find it after this journey."

"Bu-but why ma-marriage?" She felt tears come to her eyes, but held them back.

The goddess smiled again. "Because I have much more planned for you." The smile-turned-smirk scared the girl, but she accepted it. "Now, go to Suna. When you reach the border's in a few days, Naruto will meet with you. Though, I have a feeling you'll get some help before then. Here," a soft, purple cloth appeared over the girl, falling limply on her head. She looked at it and saw a new cloak. "He'll be looking for this specific color, but don't expect that idiot to see it immediately." Hinata giggled before nodding.

The goddess lifted the girl up to the cliffs and waved as she ambled towards the vast country called Suna, home of war and destruction.

"Do you really believe she'll be okay, Tsunade?" The goddess didn't even need to turn to see who addressed her.

"Of course, Jiraiya. She's much stronger than she knows and I'm certain Gaara and Itachi will see it." She smirked as she turned to the god behind her. He wore his trademark grin, white hair wild around his head. Tsunade would have smiled at him, but she noticed (with the expertise one only gains from experience) that his eyes were much lower than her face. She glared at the man and walked past him, up the golden steps to Olympus.

The god continued to grin as he followed her up the stairs. "I'm not so certain." He said from behind her, his stare getting lower and lower the higher they went.

Tsunade ignored it. "Don't worry; I'm sure I'll be right."She mumbled more to herself than to the perverted god behind her.

* * *

I don't claim to know mythology :P

I did try and study up a _bit_ before I wrote this though

Please don't flame me to tell me that I don't know mythology...

:D Many Thanks and I'd love any feedback (aside from the aforementioned)

P.S. The title is from The Hush Sound, I figured it was much better than the original title "Deity"


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to Daysi5, When your strange, and True-Sasuke-Girl for their support :D

--

Hinata was confused. Thoughts of the past month flashed and once she reached what had just happened not ten minutes ago, her mind grew cloudy. It was to the point where she only remembered that she had to go to Suna for some reason. It almost seemed to the girl that, by the time she was an hour from the cliffs, permanent frown would wrinkle her face by the time she reached Suna.

She didn't want to admit that she felt she was going just a _bit_ crazy. Aside from the fact that she had spent a ten minutes walking to a place and she didn't know why, seemed a bit odd. That and what had already happened in her past brought her to the conclusion that she must be going crazy. The pathetic thought was that she found herself sad that she wasn't crazy like the princess Cassandra. No visions and hardly any rumors of love from Naruto, the god of the sun. Hinata found herself blushing at the thought of love.

As she walked down the lonely, dark paths from Konoha to Suna, a good two days away from the country, she thought of love. It was something she didn't have, that much was obvious, but it wasn't something she craved. The thought of a man, _any_ man, within two feet of her frightened the girl to death. Being alone on the dangerous roads was frightening enough.

It was because she so deep in her thoughts of love and her mental stability, that the girl didn't even notice that dawn had passed and it was well into the day. People passed her by various methods, chariot, horse, or by foot, and she was shocked to see a familiar face on the side of the road.

It was a famous musician that she had seen a few times in Konoha (hence why she could recognize him). He wore a cloak that covered most of his body, but she could see the long black bangs and pale, porcelain skin that could only belong to him. He stopped fiddling with his lyre when he felt someone's eyes on him and his head shot up sharply to look straight at her. She saw his lips curl in a sly smirk and he motioned for her to join him on the side of the road. She blushed as she noticed that her cloak was pushed back to show him who she was and it was obvious he knew who she was.

She walked over slowly, avoiding a chariot and two couples who were ignoring the girl's plight. Once she reached the side of the road, beyond of which were vast amounts of trees, she mumbled a hello.

"Are you the famous Hyuuga-girl?" He asked, almost seductively to the innocent girl. His long body leaned against a tree, hood covering most of his face.

Hinata's blush deepened. It was horrible to be called famous when you know what you're famous for. "Y-y-yes an-and yo-you a-a-are Sas-Sasuke, the musi-musician." She frowned as the stutter worsened. It was something she knew would never end, but when talking to a handsome and talented man it seemed much more traumatizing than it was.

He smirked and Hinata marveled at the fullness of his lips .Soft, but manly even though his face was absent of any facial hair (the eyebrows were in question since she couldn't see them). "I remember meeting you once at one of my concerts. You were dressed much richer then." The jab hurt and Hinata couldn't help the look of sadness that crossed her face. Her eyes drifted to her dirty, sandal clad feet and she shuffled nervously. "But, I must wonder why such a girl, even a disgraced one, such as yourself, would be walking around unescorted." His long, elegant fingers touched the instrument lightly and Hinata found herself watching the movement.

"No-no-one wo-wou-ld ev-even talk to m-m-me after th-the…" _incident_, she added silently, but it was apparent by his growing smirk that he knew what she meant. It had been a very long time since Hinata had talked to anyone, let alone a male, and she knew that they were most likely breaking some etiquette rule, but she doubted the musician really cared for etiquette.

"Ah, yes," his fingers stopped moving, "the scandal that brought your cousin and sister to power, leaving you alone and unmarriageable." Hinata froze before turning sharply away from the man before her. She didn't care to hear the story of her disgrace from anyone, let alone someone like Sasuke.

But his hand caught hers and he brought her back sharply. "It's rude to leave in the middle of a conversation, Hinata. You of all people should know this." She frowned, head turned from his view, but remained there. "I don't mean to cause you pain." He stated after a moment of silence. "It's just that you brought about your own downfall and I think that you should be able to at least hear what everyone in Konoha has been talking about from the mouth of a fellow countryman." His sincerity was small, but enough to convince her.

Turning to face him, two hooded figures in the middle of a hot day, she smiled so he could see. "I-I don't care if…if y-you meant to hurt me. I-I-I doubt that even you are cap-capable of such evil." That wasn't true, she had heard of the man's anger from slaves who gossiped endlessly. "But..but even your-your…your apology, sm-small as it-t was, does-doesn't stop th-the fa-fact that I-I do-don't believe yo-you have an-any right to ta-talk to me in-in such a way." Her stutter was small with her anger, but the anger died quickly.

"Oh? And you are one to tell me, a man, what _you_ believe I have rights to do?" He said mockingly, standing up from the tree. His was only half-a-head taller than her, but his size brought her to look up and into his eyes. They were black as night and made her shudder from under her cloak. His smirk grew again to an almost sadistic smile as he spoke again. "While I won't take back my words a second time, I hardly take them back the first time, I _will_ give you the honor of an escort." Hinata felt something grow in her throat. Fear? Confusion? Apprehension?

"Wh-wh-why?" She asked, her milky white eyes, clear of any pupil and thus, a trademark of her family, wide with a mix of feelings.

"Because I would feel bad if I let a girl, let alone a disgraced girl, walk the dangerous roads alone." He said.

"You-you do kn-know that I-I am the-the same age as-as you, Sa-sa-sasuke, ri-right?" She asked, taking a step away from him lest he try something odd in their close proximity.

He rose an eyebrow and the smirk was replaced with a small frown as he thought about what she told him. "Really?" He asked, walking towards the road with little care if she was following him or not.

She followed. "Y-yes. Yo-you a-are eighteen, ri-right?" She asked, suddenly unsure of herself.

"Yes…" He replied, angry at his own mistake. The girl, though, cringed as his tone. He raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent as they walked down the road to Suna. Neither of them spoke until the sun had set. "We are going to Suna?" He asked calmly.

Hinata resisted the urge to giggle. How the man could walk until sunset not knowing where he headed amused her. "Suna." She said, hardly above a whisper.

"And why?" Hinata tripped roughly over her own feet at his question. His arms caught her small body with ease and he set her upright. "Caught off-guard?" He asked, smirk playing on his lip.

His words only described the _minimum_ of what she truly felt. Her mouth twisted down and her hand went up to her chin in thought. Neither broke a step as she thought in silence. Finally, she gave him her answer. "I-I…d-don't know." Hanging her head in shame, she watched the brown dirt, packed by fellow travelers, pass as she walked swiftly. Many of said travelers had already stopped in the last town to rest, but Hinata and Sasuke continued on.

"So, I'm walking with a girl who was compelled to walk the long way to Suna?" He asked in a tone she took as teasing.

"Pre-pret-pretty much." She said as they walked to the woods to rest. Over the past 8 or so hours they had only taken one break, Sasuke claiming that she can walk _'just a bit more'_ anytime she looked as if she needed a break. The only reason the musician allowed a break was because the hardest part of the journey was coming up and he felt it would be completely idiotic if he slipped and fell to his death all because of his stubbornness. Yes, Sasuke can admit that he is stubborn _on rare occasions_.

"I'll keep watch; you can sleep on your cloak." He said stiffly, sliding down one of the trees to sit on the ground.

Hinata nodded silently, taking off her old cloak before laying it on the ground near Sasuke. She sat as elegantly one could on a cloak in the middle of the forest. Her eyes drifted to his still figure as her lids drooped slightly. He took out his lyre and began to play, obviously more for himself than her, but it lulled her to sleep nonetheless.

Only a few hours later did Hinata find herself being jostled awake by a slightly exhausted looking man. Frightened, she stared at the mass of black shadow until it resembled her companion. Silently, she rose from the cloak just in time for Sasuke to fall on it. Staring down at him it was obvious that he was more tired than she had been so she resigned herself to look at the stars and pick out the past heroes and legends they told.

Once the legends grew boring, she turned to stare at the man that accompanied her. It had been a very long while since she had seen anyone sleep and her sister was (even though it pained Hinata t think of the girl) hardly as beautiful as the man next to her. His skin was white, almost luminescent, in the moonlight. He looked calmer than she believed she'd ever see again and it brought her to wonder if all men looked so people when they slept. Hinata had been told that she always fidgeted when she slept, like a dog almost, but Sasuke slept like a rock. Still though, she made sure not to make a sound in case he was more of a light sleeper than he let on.

It was dawn when she woke him, something that proved to be more of a problem than she thought possible. As soon as her small hand touched his shoulder she found herself on her back, dark eyes above her and filled with anger.

"Oh." He rolled off of her with a shake of his head. He didn't apologize, just stood up and began walking away. Hinata scrambled to gather her cloak, covering the purple one the goddess had given her, and ran after him.

At the pace they went, it would only take another day to reach the borders of Suna. Sasuke had mentioned this in passing as they talked idly about music. Both had silently come to the conclusion that talking was more interesting than awkward silence anyhow. Not that two, naturally silent people talking to each other was much of an improvement.

"S-so, Sasuke, uhm…wh-why are you travelling?" Hinata asked as they both dodged an oncoming chariot. Sasuke glared at the driver, a citizen of Suna, before answering the shy girl.

"I have someone I need to meet." He mumbled darkly. The hood over his head did nothing to mask his obvious anger and Hinata found herself flinching.

"A-anyone i-in Suna?" She asked timidly, staring at her fingers that she had managed to clean in a nearby river.

He smirked. "Not exactly, but I figure that I'll meet him eventually." His answer was as nonchalant as he could make it, but Hinata sensed something…off about the man next to her. Ignoring it as her own craziness, they continued with idle chat.

--

Sasuke's position in Mythology might be harder to guess, but by all means go ahead and try :3


	3. Chapter 3

Like always...I forget to upload :(

I'm sorry...I was busy (Driver's ed, huge school project, family issues, ect.)

Hopefully this chapter will make up for it :D

--

Surprisingly, they reached Suna by nightfall. Sasuke mumbled something about divine intervention, but Hinata accredited it, silently of course, to his strict regimen of 'no breaks'.

The border of Suna-Konoha was obvious -the thick line of trees that Konoha was known for stopped dead to meet a vast desert of a land. The native Suna citizens and slaves alike had already changed to shorter tunics and protective gear against the sand that formed from the tan rocks that people used as paths. Some even wore long leggings, obviously invented in Suna since Hinata had never seen them before. Sadly, she and Sasuke were stuck with their original outfits, but luckily it was not 'as hot as it usually is' as some passerby claimed. Hinata, had she been anyone else, would have gaped at the man. The temperature appeared to have doubled just from stepping into the barren land.

"We're here." Sasuke stated blandly as he frowned menacingly towards the ground. "Anywhere you need to be?"

Hinata frowned Her mind was still clouded and thinking about _why_ she needed to be there was getting clearer, but not quick enough for her to register what happened next…

"You must be Hinata!" A loud, cheery voice yelled from behind her. Sasuke immediately whipped around, as if someone had shocked him, and stared openly at the new arrival. Hinata, shyer than the man, turned on her heel as slowly as she could.

The man before her looked only a few years, if that, older than herself. Short, gold hair framed his tan face and his mouth was wide in a large smile. He seemed to shine even without sunlight and the memories of a day ago came back to Hinata.

"Naruto?" She asked, whispering even though no one was near them.

"The one and only!" He said with a grin. Hinata couldn't help but wonder if the smile/grin was permanently plastered on his face. Her theory was immediately disproved when the man saw Sasuke. "Sasuke?" He asked, almost in a sad voice.

The gloomy man next to her glared at the blonde before turning to her. "Is he who you want to meet?" He asked angrily. Hinata cowered now that his glare was focused on her. He seemed to sense her fear (or perhaps saw her shaking) and relaxed.

"I-I guess." She said eyes downcast.

Naruto, who had heard the exchange, grinned. "Yup!" He said happily, leading them farther away from the crowd to a lone house that Hinata hadn't noticed before. Sasuke obviously hadn't seen it either and, by the looks of the few travelers, he doubted they could even see the home.

Once inside Hinata doubted she had any sanity left. The home was of pure gold. Through the windows the sun seemed to shine even though she was certain it was dark before they had stepped inside. The floors gleamed and the lone table looked like something her rich family wouldn't even be able to afford. Naruto just smiled, completely oblivious (or maybe he was ignoring the sound their jaws made against the floor) and offered them some bread and lamb. Both hesitantly accepted his charity and the blonde snapped his fingers. A hot plate of lamb and fresh bread appeared from the air. Neither asked how he did it.

"Naruto," Hinata started after finishing her meal, "do you know why I'm here?"

The blonde smiled at her even though the tension was thick between him and Sasuke. "Tsunade wiped you memory a bit too well it seems." He said with a laugh. The name of the mother of the gods caused Hinata's eyes to widen. "Guess she didn't bother to tell you her name either. Anyways, here." He reached out and touched her head faster than she could see, but all of a sudden her mind was clear and the memories seemed to erupt in her head. Naruto grimaced as Hinata screamed. Sasuke frowned, but neither made a move to comfort her.

"Ca-can I-I rest som-somewhere?" She asked, eyes already closing as she tried to finish her sentence. Memories of not only the past night were rushing through her head. Memories of her sister and cousin were vivid and no matter how she tried to stop them they kept coming back. Worse of all were the memories of her mother.

"Of course!" Naruto yelled, sweeping her up and running up the golden steps. He laid her gently on a white (gold would be uncomfortable) bed before awkwardly asking if she needed anything. Hinata couldn't answer though due to unconsciousness.

It only took an hour for her wake up. Ten minutes to figure out where she was. And five minutes to recognize two very angry voices from downstairs.

She walked as slowly and quietly as possible before the voices were legible.

"I gave you the gift because I thought you'd appreciate it." The loud voice was obviously Naruto's.

"And what can I do with a lyre?" Sasuke's voice growled back. Hinata could picture the sneer that he most likely wore.

"Make music!" Naruto yelled.

"And what will that give me? I had fame and power, but now I am just known as a musician." The anger in his voice scared Hinata and she wondered what had happened to make him so angry.

"What happened is not my fault and you know it, Sasuke. If you want to blame someone blame him." Him? Hinata was more confused than ever but she doubted asking would do her any good.

"And what good would that do me? There's only one way to reach him and once I do I'll be stuck there forever." Sasuke said, his vocal sneer ever present.

Naruto must have had an epiphany because his gasp was something Hinata only head when someone not related to her had an idea. "Actually there's a way you won't be!" He yelled. Hinata jumped as his fist must have slammed down on the table. "Don't give me that look, Sasuke." Naruto said with a laugh. "Where do you think Hinata is headed?" She heard him ask, grin evident by his voice.

Sasuke was silent and the girl could imagine Naruto's grin widening at his reaction. "She's going there! I'll explain it all in a second." This was her cue and she knew it. A furious blush formed on her cheeks at the knowledge that Naruto had known all along where she was.

"H-hel..hello." She mumbled politely as she glided down the stairs. Both men turned to her with two totally different reactions. Sasuke with suspicion and surprise (how could he miss her presence?) and Naruto with happiness and excitement.

"Yay! You're awake!" He winked at her from behind Sasuke and motioned for everyone to sit down. He barely seemed to be able to control his actions.

"Will you finally tell us where she's supposed to go, O' wonderful Apollo?" Sasuke said with a sneer, sitting next to Hinata and across from Naruto.

"Yep!" He grinned at the couple sitting in front of him. "You, Hyuuga Hinata, have been given a special mission: convince the god of war and the god of the underworld that you deserve true love!" He smiled as he yelled the last part. Hinata cringed before her white eyes grew wide. Sasuke's fists curled up.

"Ho-how?" Hinata squeaked out.

"Easy, just go talk to them. Gaara should be easy – he's nice at heart, but Itachi will be more difficult…" He glanced nervously at Sasuke who looked as if he would snap any second. Blood dripped from his clenched fists.

Hinata frowned. In a way she knew she had to pursue the 'mission', but why would anyone care about her?

"Where's Gaara?" She asked after a few minutes of silence. Her voice was stronger than both men had heard so far and both stared up at her, shocked. Her face turned redder than a Spartan's cape, but she maintained eye contact. Naruto grinned.

"That's why I'm here. Just follow the roads to a major town, all of them should have a temple to Gaara, and call for him. After you convince him, head to the ocean where Ino will tell you how to reach Itachi." And the sun god disappeared, blinding the couple in a flash of light.

"Will you be going with me, Sasuke?" Hinata asked, staring at the sun.

The man nodded a grin almost on his face. "I still have that man I need to meet and we seem to be headed in the same direction."

* * *

--Also... wonderful reviewers (and readers, but you'd be more wonderful if you converted into reviewers)...would this line:

"You, Hyuuga Hinata, have been given a special mission: convince the god of war and the god of the underworld that you deserve true love"

Be a better summary? I'm not very good at determining this type of thing and your responses would be much appreciated! :D


	4. Chapter 4

:D Late upload (Like always).

* * *

--

It turned out to be much more difficult to reach Gaara than Naruto had claimed. Apparently, the god of war was very popular among his people. The line ran almost to the entrance of the largest town in all of Suna, Kaze.

Hinata and Sasuke hadn't spoken a word to each other since they left. The musician was silently brooding and Hinata was, to be honest, scared out of her wits. How could she talk to the gods of war and death when she could hardly stand up to her own cousin and younger sister?

She was still thinking when they finally reached the temple. It had taken a full twenty-four hours for them to reach the entrance. Even so they still had to wait for the few people in front of them to finish their requests. Already though there was talk of the god's silence. Apparently he was in a bad mood.

"Finally." Sasuke mumbled as the priest led then through the elaborate gold decorations into the main room of the temple. Inside was a gold statue the size of Sasuke, dressed in a red tunic with a red cloak hung around his shoulders. To Hinata he looked handsome, but fierce. His eyes, jade jewels encrusted in the gold, stared at nothing intensely.

The priest left the 'couple' to their wishes, even giving Sasuke the advice that if he wanted a child he should probably see Aphrodite.

Once she was sure the priest was gone, Hinata beckoned for the god of war to "please come here for a second". Surprisingly, he answered.

"What do you want?" A gruff voice asked from the statue. The next thing either Sasuke or Hinata knew the statue started to gain color. The once golden arms were now pale tan and moving freely. The stunned couple watched as the golden bstatue turned into a very angry man.

"I asked you a question." He growled out.

"Uh-uh…"She stumbled.

"Spit it out."

"My name is-is Hinata. I-I was told to-to convince you that…that…that I deserve love." Her pale face turned bright red at the declaration. It was hard enough to think about the goddess' belief that she needed love, but to speak it out loud was horrible.

Gaara smirked. "So you're the little girl they've been trying to meddle with. If you need love so badly then who is he?" He tilted his head towards Sasuke who glared back.

Hinata didn't understand the question. "He's traveling with me." She said with a confused look on her face.

"Fine." He reached for his sword and Sasuke pulled out his own. Gaara didn't even bother to glance at the Uchiha and pulled two swords from his belt. He threw one on the floor in front of Hinata. "If you lay one blow on me then I'll allow you my vote. If you don't and choose to leave then you'll never receive my vote. If you die then you'll have no need for love anyways."

Hinata stared at the sword for a second. She weighed her options: Die or find love? The question was serious, but what did she have to lose but her life? And what sort of life could she have without gaining anything? Without love, the only thing she could hope for, she was left with nothing. Then again dying couldn't be fun.

Mind made up, she grabbed the sword. Sasuke watched, eyebrows raised, but didn't say anything. Who was he to interfere with some girl he didn't know?

"So you'll try?" Gaara asked with a blank look on his face.

She smiled softly at him, despite his cold appearance. "I-I have nothing to lose, now do I?" Gaara's eyes widened slightly, but he had no time to think about the odd girl in front of him.

Hinata was not untrained. She came from a strong family of warriors, both men and women. Since birth she had been trained to wield a sword – she just choose not to. So, with the skill much higher than both Gaara and Sasuke expected, she lunged at the redhead. The sounds of the two swords meeting rang throughout the temple.

Gaara didn't say anything. No sounds of shock, no mocking words, and definitely no facial expressions crept into his cold, killing demeanor. But this was something Hinata was used to after having trained with her cousin so many times. Sasuke, on the other hand, was confused_. Women can't fight_, he told himself many many times, _it's physically impossible. Mikoto…_

Hinata and Gaara jumped away from their standstill. Both then lunged at the same time, but Gaara flipped over Hinata and attempted to slash at her back. Hinata saw through his move and ungracefully fell to the floor. Gaara, not a man of much compassion, immediately attempted to go through her body with his sword. She rolled and jumped up, swinging her sword to cut off of his head. He blocked.

"You're better than expected. You must be a Hyuuga." Gaara stated with a hint of admiration in his voice. He had yet to even look tired.

Hinata was sweating already. It was too hard for her to keep up with the war god and after only a minute of fighting she was feeling the pain. Hinata might be average at fighting, but she wasn't delusional enough to think Gaara was fighting on his usually level. That alone made her angrier than she's felt in a long time.

"You should give up. Any longer and you'll pass out." Gaara stated coldly after dodging another of Hinata's attacks.

She licked her lower lip. Gaara had hit her in the cheek with the hilt of his sword and blood was slowly seeping down her chin. She dropped her sword and fell to her knees. Gaara raised an eyebrow and walked over to her. No matter what he said about her dying he was sure Tsunade wouldn't appreciate him killing her new toy.

"Give up?" He asked, staring at the top of her head.

Hinata reached out and touched his leg softly before falling forward completely. Gaara caught her before she could hit the floor (not an easy task).

"She won?" Sasuke asked, eyes wide.

"No. She passed out." Gaara stated matter-of-factly.

"But she hit you."

"When?" Angry, Gaara glared at the Uchiha.

"Just now. She hit your leg."

Gaara's face turned blank before a smirk formed on his lips. "I suppose she did."

--

Hinata woke up in a small room on a tiny cot. Confused, and a little scared, she quietly walked out of the door and looked around.

"Awake already?" A cold voice asked. She jumped and looked at the speaker.

"Ga-Gaara!" She yelled, hitting her back on the doorway in shock. "What…what happened? I last remember getting hit in the face." She touched her left cheek and felt the swelling. Gaara watched the movement with a little guilt. He's killed hundreds of men and women, but none like her.

He smirked, taking a step towards her, and touched her left cheek lightly. She winced and turned red, but said nothing. "You're a very sneaky female, Hinata." He then bent down, face an inch away from hers, and frowned. "You have my vote." Then, he kissed her.

"But don't think I'll let Ino and Tsunade pick just anyone." He said as emotionlessly as he could before walking away.

Thoroughly confused, Hinata touched her lips with a dazed expression on her face.

This 'mission' was becoming a little too complicated for the quiet girl.

* * *

Well. Don't get angry at me for making Gaara OOC at the end. Originally he was supposed to be SEX GOD GAARA, but I decided WAR GAARA fit him a bit better.

As for Hinata fighting...I felt that she deserved something. Not that she was very good at it though :P (She got pwned in the face!)

Also (to the odd Gaara) I felt my faithful reviewers needed a little action.


	5. Chapter 5

Just a warning...lots of cursing ahead :D Guess who's shown up!  
--

It had been a month since Hinata's embarrassing moment with Gaara. Try as she might, the poor girl couldn't shake the memory of his surprisingly soft lips. Sasuke began to ignore Hinata due to the fact that every time she looked at him her face would turn three different shades of red. In a way, he reminded her of Gaara.

As they stopped to rest from their journey south (Gaara's exact words were, "Just go south…"), Sasuke got angry.

"Why do you insist on blushing every time you see me? Am I suddenly attractive to you?" The musician sneered, eyeing the nervous girl angrily.

Hinata was taken aback by his sudden outburst. She, honestly, had never thought of the handsome man in more than a platonic way…and even that was pushing it. The corners of her mouth turned down and her eyebrows furrowed at his question, but, since the sun had already set and there was no fire going, Sasuke hadn't seen her expression. He took the silence as her ignoring him.

His footsteps were faster than Hinata thought Sasuke was possible of. He was in front of her within a second, his pale face looking down at hers. Hinata's hand automatically went up in defense, but Sasuke just laughed.

"You're still weak from the fight with Gaara, Hinata." He stated. Hinata had sprained her ankle when dodging one of Gaara's blows and her cheek bone was fractured and was slowly healing, leaving her with a cheek that looked like a giant green apple. Not to mention the muscles she had neglected for years were used in a way she wished she could have avoided. Really, fighting is a terrible thing.

"Wh-what are you doing, Sasuke?" She stuttered, looking at the ground. It felt as if his black eyes were drilling holes into her head.

"Trying to figure you out." He stated angrily. "You're an enigma." It seemed to Hinata that he was stopping his sentence before it was truly finished.

"I think the same about you." She said, looking up at him suddenly.

In the moonlight, which was just reaching over the tips of the trees that they were going to sleep under, Hinata saw him smirk. His arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her towards him. Confused, Hinata watched as he quickly lowered his head inches from her. He would have kissed her, Hinata was sure of, but the dark-haired female ducked and ran away.

"No." She stuttered, shaking more than was probably healthy.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Why not? You kissed Gaara without any problem."

"Th-that was a surprise." Her face turned red. She thought no one knew of the war god's odd good-bye to her.

A guttural sound came from Sasuke. Something primeval. "I haven't been with a woman in three years and it doesn't help that you look like her." She heard him mumble to himself as he walked away. Hinata just stood there, confused, for a while.

In the morning, the two ignored each other again.

Halfway through the day, Hinata smelled something she hadn't in a long time – the ocean. Memories of her fall came back suddenly and she stopped dead in her tracks. Sasuke glanced at her and continued to walk until he noticed that she wouldn't follow at all.

He glared at the immobile girl. "What's the matter?" He asked hesitantly.

Hinata shook her head and smiled at the musician. "Nothing." She said cheerfully as she began to walk towards the sea. As soon as she was ahead of him her smile dropped. Having lived near the sea for years, the salty air reminds her of home. To Hinata, that's a sad memory.

"That must be where Poseidon lives," Sasuke stated nonchalantly, pointing towards the large, white temple that sat near the water.

They walked towards the large temple until they got close enough to see a white haired man, pointing and yelled frantically. Hinata turned red when she was able to hear what he was saying.

"Tell that fucking god that I need to get to fucking Itachi and that I for some fucking entertainment I want your fucking god to send me to that hell-hole! The bastard, sending me on a wild good chase for some bitch I could care less about!"

"I think he means you." Sasuke said from their stopped position, just far enough so the man couldn't hear them.

"Huh? Why me?" Hinata said, almost yelling from fear.

"That's Thanatos, or Hidan. He's Itachi's messenger and pretty much does everything for the ruler of Hades."

Sasuke's description didn't ease Hinata's fears (it actually raised them considerably), but she had no time to ponder about the man. As soon as Sasuke had said "Hidan" the white-haired man had turned and spotted the couple. Angrily, he stalked over to them.

"I know you." He pointed at Sasuke. Hinata looked at the man who hadn't yet noticed her. He was tall, muscular, and much tanner than both Sasuke and Hinata. His white hair looked more silver up close and his eyes were an odd shade of purple. All in all, he didn't look too scary, minus the large scythe that hung on his back threateningly.

"And I know you." The two glared at each other silently and Hinata watched, sore muscle tensed incased she had to run.

"So who's the bitch?" Hidan said, finally noticing her from the corner of his eyes. He turned his fierce gaze towards her and she froze like a deer.

"I believe she's the one Itachi sent for you to kill." Sasuke said emotionlessly with a shrug.

"Hyuuga Hinata?" Hidan questioned to Sasuke, ignoring Hinata who was slowly, very slowly, walking towards the temple.

"Yes, so if you're here then that means Itachi doesn't want to deal with her himself." Sasuke growled out the god's name.

Hidan shrugged. "That bastard never fucking does any work." His hand shot out and grabbed the hood of Hinata's purple cloak. He dragged her, practically by the neck, and brought her to his side. His arm, that previously held her cloak, snaked around her neck. To a bystander, it probably looked as if he was hugging her. To Hinata, it was more like he was slowly choking her.

"I'm going to kill you." The silver-haired man said with a smirk.

"Thi-this was no-not part of my deal with Tsunade." Hinata said, looking at the hem of his black tunic.

"Hmm? I never heard anything about a fucking deal from that bastard." Hidan said, looking confused. He turned his head to Sasuke who was looking bored.

"She was given a mission. If you kill her then it will violate the terms of her agreement."

"You two act like that bastard cares what the other gods think of him." Hidan said with a sneer.

"Yo-you don't like Itachi?" Hinata asked, the curiosity getting the better of her.

Well, it did kill the cat…

"I fucking hate him." Hidan said, his arm tightening. She cringed at the pressure.

"Then, wouldn't letting me meet him make him angry?" She offered innocently, looking up at the purple-eyed man.

He was silent. Frighteningly silent. Then, he laughed. "You're smart and cute, how 'bout in Hades I show you my room and we get to know each other a lot better?"

"No-no thank-you." Hinata said, smiling nervously.

Hidan shrugged. Then he picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder. He turned his head back to Sasuke.

"You gonna' try and get revenge?"

Sasuke gave a curt nod.

"Then I guess you and me will have a watcher." He said to Hinata. She didn't want to know what Sasuke would be watching. "At least will piss off that bastard Kisame. He hates doing this people." Hidan said with a sharp laugh as he walked, with Hinata still on his shoulder, towards the white temple on the shore.

This was an odd deity…

--

I was so happy. :D You just reviewed so much for the last chapter!

Maybe I should bring Gaara back...


	6. Chapter 6

:) Another chapter!

And thank-you to everyone whose review so far!

Only 2 more chapters left!

* * *

Hinata was exhausted. As it turns out, Kisame, or Poseidon as others call him, was a very busy god. Eight hours inside the temple later and they were still waiting. This wait might have been a surprise to the dark haired girl, but Sasuke and Hidan both looked annoyed at the god's tardiness.

"We called that bastard eight fucking hours ago! How fucking long does it take to poke some people with a trident?" Hidan yelled at one of the servants. The man, whose skin was dyed blue, stared at the purple-eyed deity and ran away. This caused Hidan's anger to focus on another person.

Sadly, the closest to him was Hinata. He turned to her with a glare.

"What are you looking at, Snowball?" He sneered, obviously trying to pick a fight with the wrong person.

"Y-You?" Hinata answered back, not used to confrontation. Sparring with her cousin and sister was always upfront with a healthy 'Fight or Die' attitude. The same aura was pouring out of Hidan, but Hinata didn't see why.

Hidan blanched. "How can I fucking hit something that looks like a fucking deer?" He asked no one in particular, stalking away to pick a fight with someone else.

Hinata shrugged before leaning against one of the temple's pillars. The inside of the temple didn't look much more different than the outside. The walls were white, the ceiling too, but the floor was a deep blue stone that looked a lot like marble. Hinata had spent the first hour marveling at the carving of Kisame. It was done in sapphire and aquamarine with onyx for his black tunic. Rubies were placed for his iris and were draped from the statue's hands. Hinata could only guess that Kisame wasn't the nicest of gods.

"Sasuke, how much lo-longer do you think this will be?" Hinata asked, growing tired. The sun had set long ago and the moon was high.

The musician glanced at her for only a second. He was leaning against the same pillar and had appeared to be asleep. Hinata had known he wasn't.

"Kisame will either show in the next hour or at dawn." Sasuke stated nonchalantly.

"Oh, okay." Hinata mumbled, feeling embarrassed at her impatience. She only felt better when she saw Hidan yelling at yet another innocent bystander. "Do you know Hidan personally?" She asked out-of-the-blue, chiding herself silently for annoying the Uchiha. Her noble upbringing told her to shut up, but something else told her to keep talking.

Sasuke grunted. "Yes, I've met both he and Itachi once before."

"W-was it a pleasant visit?" She inwardly cringed. Meeting Death and the ruler of the Underworld was probably not a pleasant time.

He smirked. "What do you think?"

She had no answer and luckily didn't need one. The wind suddenly kicked up and she was forced to grab at the hem of her tunic to prevent it was flying away. She heard a splash and felt mist coat her back.

"Fucking finally!" Hidan yelled, running past Hinata. " 'The fuck took you so damn long?"

"I'm sorry, honey, that I was gone for so long. Never mind my needs, just keep nagging. I don't mind." A deep voice said sarcastically. Hinata giggled and Sasuke smirked.

"Fuck you, Kisame." Was all Hidan said in reply.

"No thanks, hard day at work." The deep voice said wearily. Hidan cursed again and Hinata turned just in time to see him wave with one finger at the figure. Though she hardly noticed since Kisame was a sight to behold standing at at least six four. He looked very much like his statue. Only his weary smirk and lack of bloodstains let Hinata know that this was definitely no statue.

"You must be her." She jumped at his words. In her mind, she still envisioned him as the immobile figure she had been staring at for eight hours.

He chuckled. "Yes, you're exactly as Ino portrayed you – jumpy." Hinata frowned, but didn't say anything because as soon as he finished talking to her, he looked at Sasuke. "Uchiha? I didn't take you for an idiot."His tone was somber, a large change from his apparent playfulness just a split second before.

Hinata glanced at Sasuke and saw him shrug. Something unspoken passed between the god and the musician, something Hinata wasn't sure if she wanted to know about.

Kisame sighed. "I guess you three are looking for passage to the Underworld?" He stated, not really needing an answer. The dark-haired girl figured that he didn't receive very many social visits.

"You got a problem with it?" Hidan asked, sporting a feral grin.

The blue-skinned man looked as if he would roll his eyes any second. "And here I thought you guys came to pay me a visit."

Hidan's face scrunched up. "Who would want to visit a fish? It smells like a dirty brothel in here."

"Well, I figured you'd be used to that smell." Kisame retorted, making Hinata's eyes go wide. He sighed again. "Let's hurry this up then, I have a hurricane planned for Sparta in a few hours." He brightened up at the thought of bringing a storm to the war-state.

"That bastard Gaara will be pissed." Hidan said with a grin.

"So?" Kisame replied as he turned his back to lead the group somewhere.

They walked for ten minutes through halls, doors, and archways Hinata didn't even know were in the small temple. They finally ended up in a beautiful atrium. The room was lit by the moon, stars, and candles, allowing Hinata to gasp at the large pool in front of them. Even Sasuke seemed impressed by the clear, aquamarine colored water. Under the water was a mosaic of the Underworld and Olympus with Greece in the middle. The gods in the mosaic lazily watched Greece while a hooded figure (Hinata guessed that this was Hidan) with a large scythe roamed the green plains, sending other mosaic people to form a line at a black temple. Inside the temple, which had no roof, was the entrance to the River Styx. Two people were riding the boat deep into the river before the mosaic ended. Hinata could see all of the detail due to the vast size of the pool. That, and Kisame gave them a tour of his temple's hidden masterpiece.

"Why isn't this famous?" She asked, wanting more than anything to jump into the water and get a closer look at the colorful floor.

"Why would I want mass amounts of humans to see what I had the muses make for me?" Kisame asked, soft smile dancing on his lips. He looked even scarier in the flickering light made by the candles. Behind his smile she saw his pointy teeth and shuddered.

"It seems too beautiful to keep hidden." She said with a frown.

"Especially my part." Hidan inputted.

"You look like a piece of cloth hanging from a stick." Sasuke added with a smirk, walking up to the group from his inspection of the pool.

Hidan was about to yell at the dark-haired man, but was suddenly pushed into the pool. He yelped, and then came the splash, and then a multitude of curses came flying from the pool. It all happened in a second, so Hinata was left wondering what happened.

"You guys are taking too long." Kisame said wearily, but Hinata caught the smirk on his lips before it disappeared.

He turned to look at the couple. "Sasuke, you've been through this before, not by me though. I'm assuming you've figured out the process?" He asked somberly, glancing at Hinata who looked back with large, innocent eyes. He was too kind for a god.

Sasuke nodded and stepped into the pool, standing near a fuming Hidan.

"Do you know what will happen?" Kisame asked quietly, practically whispering. She shook her head and he sighed again.

"You're going to die."

Hinata choked on air. She never thought it was possible to choke on nothing, but she quickly found herself doing so. The blue man's large arms wrapped around her waist and her limp body fell against his muscular one. She felt his stomach move in another sigh.

"I don't know why Tsunade and Ino picked you. To be honest, from what I've heard so far, you don't need any help finding love." He whispered. Sasuke and Hidan were too busy arguing to care about the couple.

"I think they believe they're helping you. Though putting you through death is not my idea of help." She looked up into his face. It was hovering over hers, his mouth just a few inches from her ear. "To me, you're like the dolphin, beautiful and smart, but sadly," he leaned in closer, lips nearly touching her ear (which must have been a hard task for the 6'4 man), "I am a shark." He let her go and pushed her into the water.

While Sasuke and Hidan help her up from the waist high water, she wondered what his words meant. She knew what a dolphin was. Strong helpers. Two things Hinata knew she was not. But what was a shark? The only thing Hinata knew was this: If the frightening Kisame was a shark, then she didn't want to ever meet another one. Knowing something as fearful as one shark existed made her worry, thinking there might be more made her shudder.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her visible shudder. "Don't be scared. It's not as bad as fisherman say."

"You've drowned before, Sasuke?" She asked, eyes wide.

He frowned. "No, but I talked to people who have." He didn't want to talk about how he had 'died' and Hinata was too tired to ask.

That, and she had a bigger task at hand to worry about…

From the tales she had heard, and the bodies she has witnessed, death does not look like a venture she is ready to take on.

* * *

:) I learned 2 things writing this chapter: 1) Dolphins are in Mythology and 2) Romans had mosaics.

Believe it or not, I wrote the mosaic part without knowing that :P

I'm really suprised at the amount of reviews telling me how creative this story is and how little attention it's recieved :D

You guys don't know how happy that makes me :)

This is my 'serious' story (as compared to Just A Little Chemistry) and even though it only has a little reviews, I'll keep writing because I genuinly enjoy writing it.

But adding a little encouragement helps every now and then :)


	7. Chapter 7

Yay, update :)

Apparently, this story will only have 3 more chapters (I had to add one cause of someone I forgot to add) :(

--

"What's going to happen?" Hinata asked, yawning. She was cold and a bit frustrated. Hidan, Sasuke, and herself had been standing in the cold water for at least ten minutes. Her tunic and cloak helped keep the water out for all of two seconds. She was also a little angry at the fact that she seemed to be the only one affected by the cold water.

Kisame sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I already told you this, child." He stated, sounding at frustrated as she felt.

"Hey, it's not our fault that you're slow." Hidan growled out, a hand on his black scythe.

Kisame's mouth turned down. "Fine," he sighed again, "but, Hinata, let me tell you this." Hinata's head whipped up when she heard her name. "It will not be painless."

And then, they fell.

Well, it felt like they fell. Hinata could have sworn that the water was barely waist high, but suddenly she felt as if she was in a bottomless pit. Looking down, all she saw was darkness. The beautiful mosaic was replaced by a pitch black abyss and before she could ask what happened, she was dragged down, beneath the water.

The liquid filled her mouth as she made to scream and it felt as if she had no air left in her entire body. She tried to kick whatever was grabbing her, but the figure just pulled harder. Hinata turned her body and tried to look at the figure, but all she could make out was a tail of very large fish. What little light shone from above glittered from the fish's scales, a beautiful blue and green. The only thing that struck Hinata as odd was the fact that what she felt on her ankle was a hand.

None of that mattered though as she felt herself begin to drift away. All the light from above was disappearing and she knew it wasn't just because she was being dragged deeper and deeper. She was losing consciousness.

Hinata didn't even need to be told that she was dying; it was pretty easy to figure out. She thought of her attempted suicide off of the cliffs near Konoha and how Tsunade had saved her. Hinata would have laughed, if she could, at the fact that, because of a god, she was dying.

Too bad she had no will to move let alone laugh. Instead, she closed her eyes and hoped that all of this suffering would not end with a pathetic death in an unknown pool.

--

When Hinata woke, she didn't know if she was dead or alive. She looked both ways and only saw naked people. Her face turned red immediately. A great line of nude men and women did not compare to a statue of Achilles or Zeus and Hinata looked down to see if she was one of the naked women. With a great sigh of relief, she hugged her robe.

When she looked up again, Sasuke and Hidan stood in front of her, both giving her odd looks.

"I-I." She stuttered, not really knowing what to say.

"Forget it, we need to catch Charon and get out of this place." Sasuke stated, looking around in anger. He seemed uncomfortable, standing next to the line of people.

"Who are they?" Hinata yelled over the roar of the people. She didn't notice it until she stood, but the people were yelling and screaming. It made her want to leave as quickly as she could.

"They're nobody you need to worry about." Hidan said as he pushed through the line of people.

"Don't look at them, or at the ground where they walk." Sasuke warned, staring Hinata in the eyes. She nodded and grabbed the hand he held out for her. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on anything but the agony of the men and women in front of her. She almost opened her eyes when she stepped on something soft, but Sasuke gripped her shaking hand harder.

Finally, they passed the line of people and reached the riverside. It looked similar to the water that Hinata had just drowned in and she felt the fear well up in her. Sasuke, who still had her hand in his, pulled her away from the edge.

"You don't want to touch that water." He mumbled, so only she could hear. Not that it stopped Hidan from eavesdropping.

"Yeah, nobody wants to deal with you for all eternity." Hidan smirked, pushing the two towards the docks. "Kakuzu, you bastard, take us across!" Hidan yelled suddenly, pushing past Hinata and Sasuke to run towards the boat that was slowly leaving the docks. Hidan's lithe body leaped across the dock and landed shakily on the boat.

"Oh? Hidan? I didn't hear you were coming." A smooth, deep voice mumbled as Hidan steered the boat back to the shore. Hinata and Sasuke walked up to the boat.

"Yeah right, you bastard." Hidan growled. "Now, don't be a pain in the ass and take us across." As soon as Hidan stopped speaking, a hand shot up from the bottom of the boat.

"Where's the money?"

Hidan began to curse, yelling at the ferryman, but Sasuke pulled out three gold coins and threw them on the boat's floor. A man popped up, causing Hinata to jump.

Hinata observed the man, though there wasn't much to see. He wore a long black cloak that covered his body, a black mask that covered his face, and a black hood that covered his hair. All she could see was his dark-skinned hand and sea-green pupils surrounded by blood red. She could tell that this man was not on to be messed with.

Not that it stopped Hidan. "Hey, bastard, why do I need to pay? I work here."

"You could always swim." Kakuzu pushed the silver-haired man off of his boat and began to push himself off of the bank. Sasuke jumped on, using Hidan (who was still yelling from his spot on the bank) as a step. Hinata apologized and followed Sasuke, again, using Hidan as a step. By the time the purple-eyed man stood up, the boat was too far for him to jump on.

"No refunds." Kakuzu mumbled, pointing to the poorly scratched sign that read what he just said.

"How long till we reach Itachi?" Hinata asked, not looking at the frightening ferryman.

"It'll be ten minutes until you reach Cerberus." The man stated, sounding annoyed at having been talked to. Hinata guessed that most souls passing through weren't passing from choice.

"Is that annoying guy still there?" Sasuke asked.

"Which one?" Hinata giggled silently.

"The dog-boy." Sasuke said with contempt. Hinata looked at him with a confused look on her face.

Kakuzu sighed. "Yes."

The rest of the ride was silent.

--

I know that this is Greek Mythology, but I liked the Divine Comedy's description of Charon and wanted to make it Kakashi at first (White hair, red eyes), but I decided Kakuzu was just too greedy not to take a part as the ferryman (Money for every dead person? Score) :)

So, I kept the naked people :P

Oh, and I don't care if mermaids aren't really big in Greek Mythology, I could have used a nymph, but I decided to make Hinata really confused :)


	8. Chapter 8

It's been forever, but here it is. Only two more chapters left :)

* * *

It took thirty minutes to reach the other shore. Hinata had fidgeted throughout the entire ride. Sasuke had either glared at Kakuzu, stared ahead of him, or glanced briefly at Hinata as she twirled her fingers. Kakuzu just frowned from behind his mask. Both Hinata and Sasuke were ense as their journeys were coming to an end and it is safe to say that once the couple felt the boat land they were practically jumping off of it.

"I wish you luck, Miss Hyuuga." Kakuzu said suddenly as he walked back to his boat.

"Wait!" She yelled, running as fast as her long legs could. She reached into her pocket desperately and pulled out a gold coin. "Thank-you." She whispered much to Sasuke's annoyance.

Kakuzu nodded his thanks to the small woman and set off in his boat.

Sasuke didn't say anything as she came back, but he did raise an eyebrow. She just smiled nervously back at him.

Unlike the other side of the river which had a mild lighting, this side was almost pitch black. The floor was uneven and Hinata felt herself trip a few times. Finally, she ending up grabbing both of her hands for fear of accidentally grabbing one of Sasuke's as her fright grew.

"You can always turn back." He stated as the dark path continued on. She shook her head fervently before figuring out that he could not see her movement.

"I want to do this." She said with as much courage as she could muster given the situation.

Sasuke just gave a soft grunt.

By the time they even saw light, Hinata had no clue how much time had passed and she didn't care. Her pace sped up as they neared what appeared to be a large, door-like opening in the wall. To Hinata, it felt as if she were suddenly escaping a cave.

Only to be attacked.

Over the few days that she had been on this "adventure", Hinata could feel the strength that was all but destroyed by her family building back up. She had fought a god, met a "shark", and died, but, staring at the monster in front of her, she felt all of the strength in her body leave in a flash. A strained whine left her throat as the large monster took a step closer to her. Hinata's head tilted up and she caught the sight of two more heads on the monster, making three. All three of the heads dipped down low, mouths gaping, drool dripping down in amounts large enough to swim in.

"Cerberus." Sasuke stated, walking up from behind her. His large hand gripped her shoulder lightly, but Hinata was too busy watching the dog (dogs?) as it began to snarl at Sasuke. He just rolled his eyes in response to the dog's threatening growl.

"Kiba," Sasuke said with an irritated sigh, "call your mutt back."

A whistle sounded through the air and Hinata felt the wind move as the enormous dog turned and walked away towards the other side of the large cave (only this one was much brighter than the previous one since Hinata could even make out the eye color of one of the large dog's eyes).

A small figure from the distance leaped from one of Cerberus's heads and landed directly in front of Hinata on all fours. A wild and tan face looked up at her and rabid, dark eyes stared at her from below.

"H-hello?" She hesitated, watching at the figure straitened up. His long, thin limbs popped back awkwardly into place from his more animalistic form. His neck cracked as he moved it from side to side and ever bone in his body seemed to break as he readjusted his body.

"Hello." The voice greeted, his tone was low and sounded more like a growl then anything human. His dark eyes stared at her as he swiftly took a step towards her, suddenly closing the gap between their bodies. The ends of his long and wild hair touched her face due to his extreme height. His whole body seemed to curl and bend so that he could be face to face with her. Even then, he bent down lower and put his face to her neck and breathed in deeply.

Sasuke grabbed the odd man by the neck and threw him backwards and away from Hinata. The man did a flip and landed on his feet.

"You smell like lavender, such an odd scent for someone down here." The man said, sounding more human than before. He rearranged his black tunic and took a much slower step towards Hinata. Sasuke stepped in front of her.

"Go away, dog-boy." Sasuke ordered.

"Oh? I thought I smelled arrogance and ego." The man replied with a cheeky grin. Hinata held back her giggle, but both Sasuke and the man noticed.

"My name is Kiba, and you are?" He asked seductively, his eyes darkening considerably, but his large and friendly smile remained.

"Hyuuga Hinata." She replied hesitantly. Even she could feel the tension growing between Sasuke and Kiba.

"Why is a human girl here?" He continued, his eyes almost glowing with happiness.

"I-I was sent-" "Hinata, don't give him an answer." Sasuke ordered, grabbing her arm and pulling towards him roughly. "He'll only keep us here longer. It's his job."Hinata looked at Kiba oddly.

He just shrugged. "You're an ass, Sasuke." He said nonchalantly. "It's not my fault that you risked this young girl's life by bringing her down here while she is still alive." His eyes widened slightly before narrowing. "You aren't taking up Itachi's offer are you?" He yelled.

"No." Sasuke answered sharply, his face turning red as his grip tightened around Hinata's arm. "I could never do that."

Hinata, thoroughly confused and a little angry, stepped away from Sasuke.

"I don't know what's going on."She said with a hint of nervousness in her voice, "but I'm here on a matter that does not involve Sasuke."

Kiba's grin widened at her words, until she continued.

"I'm here on a mission to…to find love." Her face turned a shade of coral pink at the embarrassing thoughts that passed through her mind.

"What?" Kiba asked, looking like a dog that had lost his favorite treat.

"She's not lying, that damn Ino and Naruto are in it together." Sasuke chimed in.

"That makes sense." Kiba said with a sigh. He suddenly perked up though and jumped in front of Hinata. Taking her small hands in his, he asked: "So, I guess then you came for me?" He asked huskily.

Hinata squirmed out of his grasp, her blush returning. "I-I…" She stuttered out, feeling as if all of the blood in her body had run to her face.

Seeing a panic attack coming, Sasuke intervened. "She's here to see Itachi." He stated morosely, feeling his anger rise at the thought of the arrogant god.

A sound came from Kiba that Hinata never imagined could come from a human. A low, feral growl came up from his chest to his throat at the mention of Itachi.

"I won't allow it." He snarled.

"It's an order from Tsunade herself." Sasuke replied.

"You know how he is. He'll-," Kiba stopped and looked down at the girl in front of him. A sigh escaped his thin lips and he let go of her like she was on fire. He walked towards Sasuke and whispered something to the other man that Hinata couldn't hear, but their similar dismal expressions made her worry.

Sasuke nodded at everything Kiba said and both men's expressions grew darker. Finally, they parted and Kiba walked over to Cerberus, patted the huge dog's leg and walked away. He turned once and smiled sadly at Hinata and she felt her heart break.

"Wha-what's go-going on?" She stuttered, almost incomprehensible.

"We just discussed what might happen next." Sasuke stated matter-of-factly, touching her lightly on the shoulder so they could start moving towards the door that Cerberus had been standing in front of previously.

"It's no-not good is it?" She asked, knowing the answer. He nodded solemnly and she felt her knees buckle. She had died, had crossed the river Styx, and even met the mighty dog Cerberus, but all of these feats together did not scare her as much as the thought of passing through the black stone door that stood between her and the god of Hades, a man that even the ferocious Kiba and the stoic Sasuke seemed to be frightened of.

* * *

I'm not going to lie...I don't know Kiba's personality that well since I never write him, but I like the idea of a sexy + friendly Kiba :)

Itachi is going to be next and my idea of him is sort of...twisted :P I mean, he has to freak out Sasuke** and** Kiba, right?

Please review, I know I don't deserve it, but this story is especially difficult to write and I need some encouragement (those are reviewing, keep up the good work :)


	9. Chapter 9

This chapter took me at least 3 days to write. :)

Itachi is so difficult! So don't expect too much with him.

--

Hinata walked towards the door that separated her from the god of death. Every step was another struggle against her body's instinct to run away. Something evil was behind the onyx door and Hinata was interested in finding out exactly who Hades was. A horrible deity that everyone was correct in avoiding, or something surprising? It only passed her mind once that the very fact that she was willing to touch the door was against who she was in the beginning of her journey.

She took a deep breath and placed her pale hand against the black door. It was quite a beautiful door, so dark it seemed to disappear and yet it reflected her image slightly.

A reflection that Hinata was disappointed in. Her hair had dried after having had the impromptu bath and was frizzing on the bottom. A little bit of dirt was smeared on her nose and forehead, most likely from her hands, and her tunic was fraying on the ends. She looked like a peasant and, frankly, it was exhilarating. She hadn't looked so dirty since the first day of her journey; but this time she felt alive.

With one last smile at her reflection, Hinata pushed open the door.

As soon as she stepped inside the door closed behind her harshly. There was no light and Hinata couldn't even see her own hands. Sasuke was banging on the stone door behind her, but it wasn't budging.

"H-Hades?" She called out into the darkness, expecting no answer.

"Yes?" A deep, male voice replied. The pale girl froze in fear as a light suddenly flickered to life. It was only one light, however, and illuminated only a large hand and the edge of a long black robe. The hand was pale and obviously a man's, she decided while trying to focus on anything but the growing feeling that she was being watched intently.

"I'm H-H-Hinata." She stumbled out, trying desperately to rub away the goose bumps on her forearms.

"I know." The voice stated almost emotionlessly – almost, because even Hinata could clearly distinguish the hint of smugness in his dark voice.

Hinata didn't know what to do next. Should she talk some more and explain her situation and hope that he takes pity? Or should she follow her raw instinct to get the hell out of…hell? She didn't have the chance to make a decision though because the light suddenly went out and she heard the flutter of clothes.

The feeling of warmth invaded her senses as she felt a body in front of her. A rough, calloused hand grabbed her chin and tilted her head up. She tried to see the man in the dark to no avail.

"You're not very beautiful." Hades stated out-of-the-blue. Hinata's mouth curled down in a frown at his insult. "But it appears that you have a few good qualities." The hand pushed back on her head as he let go, causing her to stumble just as a flurry of lights turned on.

The man was already sitting in the chair that Hinata assumed he had been sitting in before. His large hand rested lazily in the same spot that was illuminated before. For some reason she focused on this first. It was until the hand moved a few seconds later that she took a look at the god of the underworld.

He was tall; she could gather that just by him sitting down, and oddly familiar. She scanned his long black robe for any signs or color, but there was none. Finally, she looked at his face, the part that everyone on earth and Olympus avoided in fear. It was solemn and beautiful at the same time, his eyes were the color of blood, a deep and ominous red; and his mouth was thin and set in a straight line. She couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking, but she could guess that it wasn't very pleasant. He was as frightening as legends told and Hinata was at a loss for words.

"Are you going to run away, child?" The man spoke with intensity and Hinata felt compelled to look at his face yet again. The tradition of avoiding such evil is a hard thing to overcome.

"N-No." She whispered, glancing briefly at his beautiful face, but avoiding his eyes as much as she could. "You kn-know wh-why I'm he-here." The words came out slow and forced - she felt as if she had regressed to the days of her childhood, back to the days of beatings and training. Hinata felt her face grow hot with a mixture of anger and embarrassment at the thought of her past.

"What are you thinking of, girl?" He asked. "Are you thinking of impure thoughts, or something more malicious?" The words fell like silver from his mouth and Hinata could only watch in fascination. He was unlike the other gods…

…he was much more seductive.

"I'm thi-thinking of ho-how to get out of here quickly." She had practically mouthed the last words, but Itachi heard them anyways.

"I thought that you wanted to ask me something." He asked, moving his hand to emphasize his points. His face was completely emotionless, but Hinata felt as if he was mocking her in his own way.

"I-I do." She answered, eyes downcast. The floor was the same color as the entire room - onyx – except for a long, blood red carpet that extended from the door to Itachi's throne.

He waved his hand and told her to keep talking. Hinata's eyes flickered up in time to catch his movement and get a glance at his expression – emotionless.

"I-I wa-was sent h-here to-to ask yo-you fo-for he-help in find-finding a love." She said hesitantly, her eyes on his left hand the entire time. "Ts-Tsunade sent m-me." She added in case he forgot.

"I know."

"Th-then w-why let me ke-keep going?" Anger was uncommon for Hinata, but for some reason the god of the underworld sparked it for just a second. "W-why make me keep ta-talking when I-I'm already so ner-nervous?" She asked as soon as she felt the anger recede a split second later.

Itachi didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up and walked over to her. Hinata immediately shriveled closer to the wall as he neared. He stopped right in front of her and looked down at her face.

"You-you don't like wh-when people a-are nervous, do-do you." It was a statement. After being around so many different men the past few weeks she had reached the point where she understood Itachi's type of personality. It was very similar to Gaara's and Sasuke's – both disliked weak people and, to them, nervousness was a sign of weakness. "Yo-you think I'm we-weak." She stated at Itachi's silence.

Itachi gave a small smirk, but that was the only change in his stony appearance. "You're much more perceptive than the other let on." He grabbed her chin again, ignoring her obvious flinch. He tilted her head, causing her to look at him through the corners of her eyes. "I wonder why everyone has let you leave." He said off-handedly before releasing her in the same manner that he had done before –roughly.

Hinata didn't understand his last comment and, frankly, she didn't really care to understand him. But, before she could plead with him to just allow her this one favor, Sasuke opened the onyx door.

"What did you do to her, Itachi?" The black-haired man spat out Hades' name like poison as his eyes quickly scanned over Hinata's appearance. Finding her to be uninjured, he allowed himself to relax.

Itachi ignored Sasuke, however, and began to walk back to his throne as if the other man had not just burst into his room and accused him.

"Itachi! You bastard I-"

"Sasuke, wh-what's going on?" Hinata asked frantically, interrupting him before he cursed anymore. Her pale eyes were large with worry.

"He thinks I had something to do with his wife's death." Itachi said from his seat.

"He did. He tricked her into staying here forever and not coming back with me." Sasuke retorted, glaring fiercely at the other man.

"I allowed you to try and bring her back. You're failure at being able to follow simple rules was your own fault." Itachi said in a way that made it clear the conversation was over.

Sasuke let out a low growl and would have attacked the god if Hinata had not moved in front of him.

"It seems as if you found a replacement for her." Itachi said as soon as Sasuke stopped moving. This sparked a new set of anger and the black-haired musician was just a shove away from throwing Hinata back when the girl suddenly did a series of movements, causing the man to become paralyzed. In normal situation she would have let Sasuke run around and yell at people (not that he usually does), but she could clearly see who would have the advantage in this fight.

"I-I don't re-really understand what's go-going on, but th-this is to-too mu-much. J-just tell me, Ita-It-Sir, will yo-you allow me to fi-find love?" She asked quickly for the paralysis was not going to last long.

"No, I will not."

"Why not?" She asked, not noticing that her stutter had left in her sudden burst of anger.

"Because I don't see the need for my interference in your life." He replied stoically.

"But-But everyone else doesn't see the problem with it." Hinata's face turned pink as she argued with the god of the underworld.

"Everyone else is blinded by your past to think about anything else. I, on the other hand, do not care for your past or your future."

Sasuke watched at Itachi and Hinata had a full conversation. The girl barely stuttered and the god was not just shrugging her off as Sasuke had seen him do to kings and other gods. This made the musician even angrier, but he was in no position to speak at the moment.

"You really won't help me?" She asked, feeling broken-hearted. It was a horrible feeling because this adventure had been a difficult period and, at the very end, she was being rejected her prize.

"No. I won't, so leave and take him with you." Itachi said emotionlessly, pointing to Sasuke.

The pale-eyed girl bit her bottom lip softly before turning and walking out the room, Sasuke right behind her.

And, with her mission a complete failure, Hinata left the underworld.

* * *

This was going to end completely different had I not read a romance book over the winter break. :)

Only 1 more chapter and an epilogue left!


	10. Chapter 10

It took a while and this chapter is not my favorite, but it's out. Finally.

* * *

"Hinata…" Sasuke started, reaching out to touch the pale girl's cheek. Her usual pastel skin was taking on a sickly shade of ashy-white. She was silent throughout the long walk back to the human world and Sasuke couldn't help but worry about her – even if it was just a little.

The tips of Sasuke's fingers barely brushed her skin before she suddenly dropped down, crouching low to the ground. Her head was in her thin arms as she rocked on the balls of her feet. A cascade of dark blue hair touched the ground, practically shielding her entire body from the musician's view.

Even with his anger at the god of the underworld threatening to bubble over, Sasuke sat down and waited next to Hinata. They stayed that way for an hour – neither making a sound. The wind was blowing wildly and the trees howled, but Hinata didn't move a muscle.

Finally, she stood up and dusted her already ruined tunic.

"I…I think I'm going to go to Suna for a little while." She whispered as she looked up at the dark night sky. Stars sprinkled the darkness beautifully, but Hinata was looking past them. She felt blind to all beauty at the moment and wanted nothing more but to run away and hide.

Sasuke could read her emotions the moment she turned to look at him with her pale eyes. He had seen that look in his own eyes many times, but never on the small girl before him. Even when he mocked her for her sordid past she never looked so downtrodden. The musician felt a pang in his chest he had only felt once – when his wife died so long ago…

"Don't go." He whispered, suddenly grabbing her hand from his sitting position. His fingers tightened around her frail hand softly, but Hinata didn't move. "You don't need a god's permission to find love." His voice was still soft, but Hinata could hear it clear even over the wind.

Her hand tightened around his before she let go and slipped it from his grip. The answer was clear to Sasuke, who stood up and wiped the dust from his clothes.

"Then at least let me help you." He said, his voice back to its cold nature. The rejection stung, but he understood her reason. She didn't want his love if it was offered out of pity.

"No." Her voice was weak and almost failed. "I'll…I-I can f-fi-find i-it on m-my…my-my o-own."

Sasuke nodded. There was nothing he could do to help her at this point even though it hurt him to watch her frail body shake and sway with the wind. She looked even worse than the first time he had met her, many, many years. Back then she was quiet, mousy, but healthy looking with fine jewels draped around her neck and wrists. Now she wore a dirty tunic and cape that looked more brown than the original colors of purple and white. Before, when she looked at something her eyes were fearful, as if the object or person would hurt her without a second thought. Now, her eyes were lifeless. No longer was she fearful because she had nothing to be taken away.

"I own a small house in Suna. Just go east from the main city and you'll find a small town. There, you'll see my secret home – it'll have my name engraved on the front so it should be easy to find. Stay there for as long as you need." He turned to leave.

"Where w-will yo-you go?" She asked, not turning to watch him walk away.

Sasuke thought about it for a while. "I need to talk to Naruto about a few things first and then I'll head over to my oracle. There are some things I need to sort out within myself." He said before walking off.

Hinata stayed still until she couldn't hear him anymore. She knew, deep down, that she would never see him again.

She took a deep breath and, then, she began walking towards Suna. Thoughts assaulted her as she slowly began her trek towards the sand city. Her first thoughts were about Itachi and his cold, dark red eyes. Even though he showed no emotion, Hinata felt that he took joy out of turning down her simple request. The feeling of anger rose in her chest as she continued her long journey. It was not a very common feeling in the girl, but nonetheless she forced herself to stop walking and take another deep breath. Tears threatened to fall from her pale eyes as she thought about her "adventure". However, she kept them at bay and continued to walk.

She walked until the sun rose. She walked until her worn out sandals ripped apart. She walked until her feet bled. Finally, she walked up to the small cottage that had the name "Orpheus" engraved on the door.

A small smile lit up her dirty face at the musician's rarely used name and she hesitantly opened the door. She ignored the thick layer of dust and walked up the wooden stairs. Her body seemed to move on its own once she found the small, straw bed and she collapsed on it with a sigh.

--

Hinata spent the next day in the public baths. She met some of the female villagers and talked pleasantly. After months of a journey full of men it was odd to speak to so many women. It was especially awkward after she took off her tunic and revealed her now emaciated body. Her ribs and hips were visible underneath her white skin. It was something that had started near the end of her journey, but worsened drastically over the months that took her to walk back. She had easily hid her thinning body from Sasuke and the other men with her large tunic and thick cape, but here, in a public bath, she had little to hide herself behind. None of the women said anything, not even to each other, while she washed her bloodied feet or thin body. No one said anything until she left.

Once in her temporary home, Hinata began cleaning. It took the rest of the day and most of the night, stopping only to eat, for her to finish, but once she did the home looked respectable. There was only a table with two chairs, a small rug, a fireplace, and a bed upstairs, but compared to the outdoors it was a welcomed sight.

Over the next week Hinata was given various gifts from the women villagers. She was given three chickens, food, and even a few marriage offers for the women's sons. Hinata only turned down the offers and accepted the other gifts. Within four weeks she had a small farm going. She sold eggs to the villagers and began planting fruits and vegetables. On some days the men or women of the town would come up and visit her. It was a quaint existence.

But there was a feeling of dread building up in her chest as the weeks passed. She was waiting for something and, finally, after eight weeks something happened.

* * *

I actually looked up whether or not Romans ate eggs. Weird.

And the next chapter will technically be the finale/epilogue.


	11. Chapter 11

Last chapter. I enjoyed this story a lot :) I hope you all did too.

* * *

It had been a rather lovely day. The sun was bright, the weather was warm, and Hinata's crops seemed to be even larger and plumper than the day before. She had even received quite a few handsome male visitors who offered to help her around her farm. She turned them down politely, stuttering only a few times.

The sky was just turned orange as the sun made its descent when she heard the knock on her door. She had been making dinner for herself and was wearing a short tunic that was stained with dirt and food, but she answered the door nonetheless.

To her surprise, the sun god himself stood at her door. She was just about to smile and greet him when she caught his worried expression.

"Come on in," she mumbled, wiping her dirty hands on her tunic as she let him inside her quaint home. He just nodded and seated himself on one of the chairs at the dining table. He looked out of place wearing his orange tunic in her drab, wooden home.

"Sit down, we have to talk." It was a request, not an order, and she took the seat across from him. She was worried, but even so she couldn't help but think that he was really the first person that had ever sat at the table at dusk. She had never had a visitor so late.

"Sasuke's dead." Hinata's breath hitched in her throat. This was not a good conversation starter and it was obviously something that gave Naruto stress as he moved his hands about restlessly.

"H-ho-how?" She stuttered, not even bothering to be strong. "H-he w-was ju-just a…I ju-just talk-talked to-to him a-a…" She couldn't finish her thoughts.

"He was going to see Dionysus, or Madara as some know him. I-I tried telling him not to go, but he said he needed to talk to him. He was killed by Madara's followers before he could even reach the temple." Naruto cursed, completely forgetting he was in the presence of a woman, before continuing. "He told me before he left that he wanted you to keep the house. He was going to come back and try to wed you."

"W-what?" She said, feeling her eyes well up.

"He knew you weren't ready before so he wanted to give you time, but now…" The sun god trailed off as Hinata tried to hold back her tears. This was too much.

"I'll be leaving now, but expect me back soon." He smiled at her, a sad smile, before leaving. Hinata stayed seated, not bothering to see her guest out. She needed to think.

--

Naruto began to show up once a week, same day, same time. Hinata figured that she was only person other than himself that actually knew Sasuke fairly well. It was nice getting to know the sun god, but then..more gods began to show up.

First was Hidan.

"Hey bitch, I heard that crazy bastard of yours up and got himself ripped to shreds by a few girls." The silver haired death god yelled as he walked up the steep hill to her home. Hinata jumped at the familiar voice before running away from her chickens and to the man.

"Damn, why do you live to far away?" He asked loudly. Hinata ran as fast as she could, but she couldn't run fast enough to stop him before he yelled a few more obscenities.

"Hidan!" She gasped as she saw him, waving furiously. "Please stop yelling such horrible things!" She yelled as loud as her timid voice could allow. She might live fairly far from town, but she didn't need odd rumors circulating about the company that she kept.

"Fine fine, but just you fucking wait 'cause I won't stop for long." He mumbled as he finished the long trek up the hill.

"Thank-you." She said with a large smile. She was wearing a short tunic that was stained with dirt, most of her tunics were, and her hair was up in a messy bun.

"You look hot." Hidan complimented as if it was the most natural thing for him to say. Hinata's face turned red at his words, but she otherwise ignored it and invited him inside. Once there he sat down in Naruto's usual seat and she gracefully sat on the other side, careful to make sure her work tunic didn't rise any higher.

"I ain't trying to insult you, bitch. It's just that usually when I see a fucking hot girl I have to kill her afterwards. Not that I don't enjoy the killing part." Hinata shuddered.

"Is that what you've come here to do?" She asked a nonchalantly as she could, but inside she was shaking.

"No no, this is a personal trip for once." He flashed her a handsome smile. She was pleasantly surprised to not hear a curse from him for once; and there was the fact that he wasn't going to kill her today.

"I suppose you aren't here to take in the sights."

"I always did like you, the bastard that was with you, not so much." He started with a smirk that made her shiver. He was still the god of death and she wasn't sure if she could trust him completely. "Too bad he had to leave you alone though. Now you're fucked."

Hinata's thin eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?" She willed herself not to stutter, but couldn't stop from fumbling on the last word. She was nervous.

"Well, that spiky haired bastard made it pretty obvious he was going to marry you, but now words gone out that he's dead. That shiny bastard ain't gonna help you either. He wouldn't dare go up against the bastards that I know are after you." She figured the shiny one was Naruto, but the rest was still a blur. People after her? She asked who would be after her, her voice timid and afraid.

"Well, I know for a fact that war guy will be here soon and the bastard Itachi wants to see you soon." He said with a smirk.

"What can I do?" She stumbled over every word, something she had not done in a while. She didn't want to associate with any more gods except for Naruto. They exhaust her.

"Nothing. You should've gone with the Sasuke-bastard." Hidan said with one final smirk as he got up to leave. "I just came by to warn you as a favor to the fishy-bastard. He felt that you needed to be warned for some damned reason or another." He shrugged, his large scythe moving menacingly along with him, before allowing himself out.

Hinata swallowed hard. If Kisame felt she needed to be warned of the two gods' arrival then they must be coming for something big. She wished that Sasuke was around, a feeling that she got often after she learned of his death. But he wasn't here, so she would meet the gods without him.

--

Surprisingly, the first god to show up at her door was Itachi. She knew he was there before he had even bothered to knock. It was as if she was in tuned to his aura – it seemed to suffocate her and she ended up dropping the knife she held as she was making breakfast. Eagerly, fear intertwining with every muscle, she opened her front door.

He was as handsome as ever. And also as frightening. His dark clothes stood out in the bright, dawn sunlight, and his eyes seemed to pierce her as she opened the door. He didn't smile, he didn't seem to have any expression at all. Instead, he just followed her inside her small home.

"W-wo-would you-you like some water?" She offered, stumbling over a few words. She couldn't help it – she was visibly shaking by just being in his presence. He didn't even need to speak and she was ready to run away to Thrace or Sparta.

"No." He said smoothly. His voice was like lace and his face was like stone. If she wasn't so scared, she might have reveled in his beauty. Instead, she sat down, rather ungracefully, in the chair across from him.

"You must wonder why I have come." She nodded once, hardly a nod at all. "I have come to see how you fare without Sasuke by your side."

"I thought you cared not for my past or future." She said timidly, eyes downcast. She didn't see the smirk that the god of the underworld had.

"You have grown rather strong without him by your side." He stated, "but you still seek love, do you not?"

His cold words brought back memories she'd have rather not remembered. She took a deep breath and stilled her nerves as best she could. Repressed memories of the day she left her home and started this odd journey came flooding back in harsh waves. Her arrival back from a small village's festival to home being met with the marriage of her cousin and sister; her father denouncing her in front of the town; and finally her complete banishment was like play in her mind, as if it didn't happen to her. Too many events had happened afterwards for Hinata to really think about the incident.

They called her a failure to the Hyuuga name and yet, here she was, living by herself, speaking to Hades himself. She had met the mighty Tsunade and even fought Ares…and finally, she had died in a pool more magnificent that anything her family would ever be able to see. Though it worried her a bit, Hinata was actually somewhat happy that she had been banished from her family.

She was now alone, no one to care for her, and yet she felt happier than she had ever felt before.

These revelations were what sparked her next words…

"Actually…I don't think that I need love to be happy. I might have a few months ago, but now I am rather glad to be without it." She said, looking straight into her eyes. However, as soon as she stopped, she returned her gaze to the ground. She was being insolent – something she had never done before. Who was she and where was the old, jittery Hinata?

She's gone, Hinata told herself, and replaced with someone who can take care of herself.

Itachi nodded, though she didn't see. "I figured as much, here." His large hands took hers and opened them up. She was surprised at how warm they were when he placed something in her hand.

"Seeds?" She asked, looking up at him again. Her face, bronze from the sun, was flushed from her rather small outburst.

"If you feel the need, then eat them. Just be sure of your decision before you do."

She was still holding the seeds when he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. She looked at them once more before placing them in a jar, she needed to think more about who she was and did not need to bother herself with some silly seeds.

--

Two weeks later and there was another knock at her door. She knew, yet again, who it was before she opened it. She could feel the heat radiating from his body as she opened the door.

"Gaara, come on in." She waved as a sign that he should come in and stepped to the side. He looked the same, as all the gods did, in his gold armor and leather straps. His bright red hair was as messy as it was before.

"It took me a while to find out what happened to you." He stated emotionlessly as he sat down. It almost made her giggle at the thought of all the visitors she had been having as of late. "I am sorry that Itachi refused your request."

"It's fine, I'm pretty happy." She offered him some water, which he refused, and sat down across from him. "I think he actually did me a favor."

"I do not. You shouldn't be alone." He said quietly. It surprised her that the god of war could actually care for her. She remembered his promise that he wouldn't let just anyone marry her.

"I wish it was possible to work between us." She said sadly. Gaara was a good man, if rather emotionless. He was strong, brave, and smart.

"Yes, I do too." He said almost as sadly as she had. The problem lay with him being a god. The most he could give her was a child, which she was not ready for at the moment.

They sat in silence for a while, both wondering if it could ever work, both knowing that it couldn't.

--

Hinata continued to get visits from all of the gods. Gaara visited every month, Naruto every week, Itachi every few weeks, and Hidan whenever he felt like it. Kisame even came sometimes, though he only stayed for an hour at most. Rumors began to fly about as to why she received so many odd visitors, but no one bothered her about it since she began to be the main provider of vegetables and eggs to the village. Hinata was content.

After a few more years, Hinata and Gaara finally took a step in the direction of a relationship. It didn't take long for her to bear a child with dark hair, pale skin, and green eyes. A beautiful little boy that Naruto claimed would be very strong and powerful.

The child grew up to live a normal life before going off on an adventure of his own, working for his uncle, Naruto. Gaara grew busy with all of the wars – there seemed to be a new one every year – but he tried to remain in their lives. Hinata never believed that they would be together forever, so after their child left she didn't expect him to visit again. She was right.

Hinata was a beautiful woman, even in her late forties. Her hair was still it's dark blue-black color and she had very little lines about her face. Naruto continually told her that she was the most beautiful human woman and even Itachi complimented her on occasion. She didn't care for either of their comments and was content to garden and grows chickens.

It was just by chance, years later, that she happened upon the seeds. She recognized them instantly as pomegranate seeds, seeing them only once in her 60 years of life. She remembered Itachi's words to eat them when she felt the need to. She was old, older than most in the village. Her garden was long gone and her chickens given to another farmer. She was ready.

So she put the dried up seeds in her mouth and swallowed. A smile formed on her face and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was in a familiar place.

"So this was your plan all along?" She asked, her voice bright and strong as it was many years ago. She stood up from her position on the ground, her joints moving with ease.

"I was surprised you never figured it out." Itachi said from his seat on his throne. The room, dark so long ago, was now brightly lit up, revealing a second throne that had been added. Hinata smiled and walked to the throne, taking Itachi's hand.

"I thought you despised me. It wasn't until I was with child that I recognized your hate for something more." She smiled and sat down beside him, never taking her eyes off of him. "But I was always waiting for an advance."

"You know as well as I do that it would never have worked while you were forced to stay on earth." He made it sound like it was a bad thing.

"Yes, I supposed that now, I am trapped for an eternity." She smiled at the man beside her and he nodded back, stoic as ever.

* * *

So, I know the ending is a little odd, but this is what I had planned for a while.

If you don't get it:

Hinata began to fall in love with Itachi when she was pregnant. She knew Gaara could never fully stay with her and when he left her she was really not fazed by it. She was always waiting for Itachi to do anything to prove her loved her and when she was old, over 60, she decided to eat the seeds since she felt she was ready for anything. Then, in the Underworld, she realized that Itachi had planned for her to eat them and become his Queen.

Yeah...odd and not really romantic, sorry. This is my more "serious" story and it was really a challenge.

I would absolutely adore reviews as a final goodbye :)

--


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